Col 1:28 Whom [Christ] we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; 29) For which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.
For such a presentation [presenting every man full-grown in Christ] Paul labored, struggled, fought, and wrestled. Paul's struggling, however, was according to Christ's operation within him. Hallelujah, the indwelling Christ is operating within us! This operating is His energizing. As He energizes us from within, we need to labor in cooperation with His operating. The operation of Christ operates in power. The Greek word for power is the source of the English word dynamo. This power is no doubt the power of the resurrection life (Phil. 3:10), which operates within the apostle and all the believers (Eph. 1:19; 3:7, 20). By such an inward operating power of life Christ operates within us. This power is different from God's creating power. God's creating power is the source of the material things in our environment, whereas God's resurrection power accomplishes the spiritual things for the church within our being. Paul labored, struggled, wrestled, and fought according to this resurrection power. By means of the operation in this power he carried out his ministry to present every saint full- grown in Christ. Some may think that the way to present others full-grown in Christ is to pray. However, it is possible to have a superstitious understanding of prayer. For example, suppose someone thinks that meals can be prepared only by prayer and that there is no need to go shopping or to cook food. Such a concept is superstitious. In presenting others full-grown in Christ we need to follow the principle set up in Genesis 2: Man tills the ground, and God sends the rain (v. 5). On the one hand, we must till the ground. On the other hand, only God can send the rain. As we trust in God and look to Him for the rain, we should be faithful in our responsibility to till the ground. This means that we must fulfill the principle ordained by God. Applying this principle to the matter of presenting every man full-grown in Christ, we see that we should not merely pray, but also labor according to Christ's operation. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Colossians, pp. 120, 137. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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